1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to off-road equipment and more specifically to a roll-out cab for off-road equipment, which allows a cab to be slid out for maintenance of a power source.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,409 to Bowman-Shaw discloses side loader vehicles. The Bowman-Shaw patent includes a guide means for a driver's cab extending across one end of the vehicle, a driver's cab mounted to move with respect to the guide means transversely of the vehicle, and power-operated means drivingly coupled to the cab to move the cab along the guide means.
Patent no. JP11181832 to Katsunori discloses a cabin moving mechanism in construction vehicle. The Katsunori patent includes a drive sprocket arranged at one side and a driven sprocket at the other side with an adequate spacing provided in a moving direction of the cabin, one end portion of a roller chain is fitted to the drive sprocket and attached to a fixed bracket fixed to a bottom portion of a cabin and the other end portion is fitted to the driven sprocket and then attached to a fixed bracket fixed to a bottom of the cabin, which results in the cabin capable of moving in a left to right direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,688 to Watanabe discloses a cab sliding device of industrial machine. The Watanabe patent includes a slide base that may be inserted into and withdrawn from rails and from above rails, whereby the number of man-hours for assembly can be decreased and the ease of maintenance can be increased. A cab is mounted on top of a slide base of the cab sliding device.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for a roll-out cab for off-road equipment, which allows a cab to be slid out for maintenance of a power source and its related components, and which allows tests to be performed on the equipment, while the cab is slid away from a power source.